Keeping It In The Family
by Slagkick
Summary: Racer X/Speed. Late night, Thunderhead: the Mach 5 and the Shooting Star alone on the track. Speed notices something very familiar about the masked racer. Movieverse.


The only time he ever truly feels alive is on the track. They don't understand. They say they do. That racing is in their blood. That this is what they live for. But nobody can understand the rush he feels behind the wheel of the Mach 5. Nobody but _him_.

The Mach 5 and the Shooting Star speed down the raceway, neck and neck. Speed looks over at the masked racer. _That mouth...those lips...look so familiar..._ Their tires touch. Speed slams down on the gas, edging ahead. They round the bend. X grits his teeth and puts the pedal to the floor. The Shooting Star grinds against the Mach 5. X looks over at Speed, a wide grin on his face. Speed grips the wheel tightly. _Where have I seen that smile before...?_

They zoom through a banked curve, X almost on top of Speed. Neither man hearing a sound but the raw, primordial roar of their engines and the beating of their own hearts. Speed cuts in front of X and stares at the masked man's reflection in his rear view mirror. He doesn't need to watch the road anymore. He could do this with his eyes closed. _I'm not going to let you win..._ The wind rushes past him. Everything is a blur. Everything but that face.

_"Rex...can I come with you? Please, oh please, let me come with you..."_

_"Sorry, Speed...not this time...you'll understand when you're older..."_

_"Rex...you are coming back, right?"_

_"I don't know, kid...I really don't know. One day you'll see what I mean."_

_"You gotta come back. Or...or I'll tell Pops!"_

_He chuckles to himself and puts a finger on his younger brother's lips. Pops wouldn't care. Not after what he'd become._

_"Hey, Speed?"_

_"Yeah, Rex?"_

_"You gotta promise me...some day they might start saying bad things about me..."_

_"But why?! You're the bestest brother in the whole world!"_

_"Like I said...you'll understand when you're older. Just...promise me you'll never believe it."_

_"I promise!" Speed jumps in his brother's lap. "Hey, Rex?"_

_"Yeah, Speed?"_

_"I love you."_

_"Love you too, kid."_

_He stays there all night, until Speed falls asleep, and kisses his brother on the forehead before walking out the door._

Speed focuses intently on the image of Racer X in his rear view mirror. _He's the only one who knows how I feel._ He recognizes the way X drives. It's just how his brother used to drive. But, no...Rex wouldn't have held back like this. Rex probably would have lapped him by now. Rex was the best. But Rex was reckless. X plays it too safe. Rex didn't.

He remembers it well, though he wishes he couldn't. If he could, he'd make it so he never had to see that image replaying in his mind - the explosion, the announcer's voice: _"Folks, this doesn't look so good..." _Speed sat glued to the television that night, Mom and Pops on the couch behind him. Nobody saying a word. Then the ambulance came. Then the body on a stretcher, covered with a sheet, out of the icy cavern. His entire world shattered that night. Tears running profusely from his eyes like an oil leak that just wouldn't stop. Face buried in his mother's breast, which heaved with each sob of her own. Pops sitting there, stoic and still, his fist clenched, his mouth solderd shut to keep the scream from coming out.

He was never the same after that night. The family grew even closer. He was now the oldest son. The pride of the family. Mom and Pops made sure to let him know that. He saw in Spritle a younger version of himself, following Chim-Chim around the way he used to follow Rex. Sparky was almost like a brother, too...and Trixie, Trixie was wonderful. But her arms felt so soft when he laid in them. Nothing like Rex's arms, strong around him.

He would trade it all just to have him back...

He blinks a tear away and brings himself back to the race. He doesn't know why he's racing. To prove something to himself? Because there's something intimately familiar about X - the way he drives, his chiseled jaw, the way he laughs - that makes Speed believe he's his brother. But, no...Rex would never hurt him like that. Rex wouldn't make the family - make _Speed_ - suffer the way they did. It's just that X understands him, and at the end of a race it's not Pops bellowing in the stands, Mom with tears in her eyes, Sparky throwing him into a friendly headlock, Trixie kissing him and standing at his side, Spritle and Chim-Chim squealing wildly and jumping for joy...it's not these things he notices - it's X standing off to the side, arms crossed, smile on his face, beaming under that mask of his. Saying, "Great race, kid" as Speed passes by, clapping him on the shoulder.

The engine of the Mach 5 rattles violently. The Shooting Star once again at its side. It's going to be a close one. It always is. Speed can feel himself shaking, not just from the car - his hands trembling, his heart about to burst out from his chest. He bites his lip. The two racers round the final bend. Their tires screech. Almost deafening, but music to their ears. The finish line draws closer, the horizon ever nearer. Speed gives it everything he's got. Hands grasped around the wheel for dear life, tears pouring down his face, his scream silenced by the roar of the engine - he speeds past the finish line, not even seeing whether X is in front or behind, and comes to a screeching halt.

All is silent. He sits in the Mach 5, eyes closed. He removes his helmet, and his gloves. He looks up. X stands above him and reaches down to help him out of the car.

X smiles. "That was a close one, kid."

Speed looks over his shoulder and sees the Shooting Star stradling the finish line. Bastard didn't even finish the race. He grabs X's hand and exits the Mach 5. He looks at X, tries to look past the mask and see the man inside. He tries to look beyond the sunglasses, see if the man's eyes are his own. He realizes he's still holding on to X's hand and lets go. "Why?"

"You'll understand some day, kid." X's mouth twists into a sad grimace.

Speed fights back tears. He knows where he's heard that before. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am."

Speed moves his face close to X's. "You're my brother. Just tell me. You're Rex. I know it."

X feels Speed's breath hot on his lips. "Speed...would a brother do this?"

And he pulls Speed into an embrace that the younger racer locks in to, as if he's wanted this for a long time, Speed pressing a hand against X's stomach, his other arm wrapped around his side, feeling the gloved hand firmly around his shoulder, and the lips - the only part of X he is ever truly able to see - against his own, hard and strong. _This is nothing like kissing Trixie. This feels...safe. This feels...like driving_.

They stand together at the finish line, racer embracing racer, enveloped in each other as a driver is his car, neither one wanting to let go. This is what they needed - not the roaring of the engine or the screaming of the crowd. Just the sound of each other's breath and the beating of their hearts.


End file.
